The Cherry Blossom Chronicles A DeiSaku story
by Rafiki the Soothsayer
Summary: REDONE! Deidara and Sakura develope strange feelings for each other as they meet in Orochimaru's lair. What could these feelings amount to? DeiSaku NaruHina ShikaTema and many more to come. Please R&R! NEW CHAPTERS WILL BE POSTED SOON!
1. Chapter 1

**The Cherry blossom chronicles**

The darkness of night had descended far quicker than Itachi would have anticipated. The cold-hearted S-rank criminal, who sat alone atop a tall cliff which overviewed the vast and moon-illuminated forest below him, gazed impassively up into the star-lit sky with his piercing crimson eyes. The full moon was out tonight, signifying that it was time to take action and commence the "Akatsuki's" newest operation. It was time. Itachi let out a low, pained sigh and buried his head into his hands. He had always hated looking into the full moon. It reminded him too much of _that_ night: the night he abandoned his own village after slaughtered his own family, leaving only his younger brother, Sasuke, alive. Itachi quickly shook those thoughts from his mind. He knew that he couldn't afford to dwell on the past. Not now at least. Not when there was a task that needed to be accomplished. Just then, the harsh commands of Pain, the Akatsuki leader, echoed in Itachi's mind.

_"I want Orochimaru's corpse at my feet by Friday night,"_ Pain had instructed. _"If we cannot manage to assassinate him by then, our entire operation will surely collapse."_

Itachi had no idea what the leader had meant when he said "their entire operation would collapse," but he hadn't even bothered asking. Itachi knew his place. After 22 years of living, Itachi realized what his purpose was. He was simply a tool used to serve those superior to him. If it was his decision, Itachi wouldn't have chosen this fate, but by now it was far too late. From the day he was born into the Uchiha clan to the day he entered into the ANBU black-ops, and even now as an Akatsuki member, Itachi was just a disposable pawn to be used for the will of others. He knew his place well, so he didn't ask the leader why it was so important to have Orochimaru dead by Friday night. All he knew was that it needed to be done. With that thought set firmly in his mind, Itachi rose to his feet.

_What day is it today? _Itachi pondered for a moment. After a moment of thought, Itachi realized that it was only Tuesday, meaning they still had three days till their deadline. With that, Itachi's body instantly dispersed into a large flock of crows and flew out into the darkness of the night.

_Hurry up Deidara, _Itachi thought as his crow bodies soared across the sky. _I'm counting on you! _

**Elsewhere…**

The white light of the full moon shimmered through the iron bars and hit Sakura Haruno on her pale face. Slowly, Sakura's eyelids began to open and revealed two emerald eyes which seemed to glimmer in the moonlight.

_W-where am I? _Sakura wondered hazily as she slowly began to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some type of filthy prison cell. Sakura looked down at her body and realized that she was constricted in chains. Suddenly, a searing pain shot through Sakura's body. She felt as though she had suffered some type of head injury.

_What happened to me? _Tiny pieces of Sakura's memory began to return to her. She could just vaguely remember that she had been sent on a mission to return Sasuke to Konohagakure. So how did she end up here? Just then, the face of Sakura's best friend and eternal rival, Ino, flashed through her mind.

_Sasuke…_

**(Flashback: In Konoha, half a day ago)**

Sakura stood silently by the entrance gates of Konohagakure.

_This time, _Sakura thought determinedly, _this time I'll bring back Sasuke-Kun for sure!_

"C'mon, Sakura!" Naruto Uzumaki, her idiotic and knuckle-headed friend, yelled in frustration. "Let's go! Sasuke-Teme won't wait for us while we just sit around!" Sakura responded to this by punching Naruto in the face.

"We need to wait for the rest of our team to show up, idiot!" Sakura yelled angrily. "We're going to be heading into the Hidden Sound Village, so we need a full team!"

"I don't know, Sakura-Chan," Naruto said, grinning slyly. "If it was just the two of us it would be like a date!" Sakura, once again, delivered an earth-shattering punch to Naruto's face and sent him flying backwards a couple of feet.

"How many times do I need to tell you? I DON'T want to go out with you!"

Naruto sighed and returned to his feet. The two of them waited for a few minutes and Naruto began to pace thinking, where the heck is Neji supposed to be? Suddenly, Naruto heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. He spun around excitedly but he looked disappointed when he saw, not Neji, but his younger cousin Hinata. A small blush appeared on Hinata's face when Naruto looked at her.

"Um, h-hi, N-Naruto-Kun," Hinata stuttered nervously.

"Oh, it's only you, Hinata," Naruto said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Do you know where Neji is?"  
"Well, um… Neji couldn't make it. He has to attend a jonin meeting so I'll be his replacement."  
"Oh, okay," Naruto said with a dumb grin on his face. "I suppose you're better than nothing." Sakura noticed the look of disappointment on Hinata's face and thought, _Naruto, you idiot! You hurt Hinata's feelings. _Basically everyone knew how Hinata felt about Naruto except… Naruto himself.

Hinata blushed, thinking that maybe this could be the day she could tell Naruto how she feels about him. Hinata didn't want to hide her feelings anymore. "N-Naruto?"

Naruto turned around. "Yeah, Hinata?"

Hinata blushed and thought, _I can do this!_ She swallowed hard and screamed, "NARUTO, I LO-"

"Hey, guys!" a voice said from behind them. Naruto and Hinata turned around and saw Shikamaru Nara, a chunin around their age, walking toward them. The laid-back chunin wore an indifferent look on his face and his black hair was in the shape of a pineapple.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto said, greeting his lazy friend. He then turned back to Hinata and said, "What was that you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, nothing," she said. Hinata sighed to herself, _I was so close_!

"So you're going to be leading the mission?" Sakura asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied glumly, "but it's a pain in the…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Shino, another one of Naruto's friends, whose body was almost completely covered in his clothing, appeared out of nowhere. "Shikamaru, watch your mouth," Shino said coolly. Shino's hood covered his entire face except his eyes which were covered by his dark sunglasses. In his left hand, Shino was holding a jar which contained eggs of some kind.

"What are the eggs for?" Naruto asked dumbly. Shino explained that his beetles went through mating season, _inside his body,_ and as soon as the eggs hatch he will train the bugs how to fight.

Sakura let out an "Eeeew!" in response.

"So you're coming to bring Sasuke back too?" Naruto questioned the bug tamer.

Shino nodded and added, "I will be helping Shikamaru lead this mission."

Naruto looked back at the village behind and asked, "Are Choji and Kiba, or maybe Bushy Brows and TenTen, coming with us?"

"They are all on missions," Shikamaru explained. "But as soon as they come back they'll come after us and help us with the mission."

"Well, all right then," Naruto yelled excitedly. "Now that the gang's all here, let's get going!"

"Okay guys," Shikamaru said. "Let's roll!"

_ (End flashback)_

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by the blasting sound of an explosion.

_What was that?_ Sakura thought, startled. Then, all of the sudden, she could barely make out the sound of someone's voice as soon as the explosion sound died down.

"All right then. We're in, hmmm?" Sakura heard a deep and masculine voice say.

Sakura could have sworn she had heard this voice before. Then a second voice spoke. This one was more childish than the other.

"Yeah, Tobi did a good job taking out those guards right, Deidara-Senpai?"

_What's going on?_ Sakura thought as the voices continued.

"All right, let's find Orochimaru, Tobi wanna play with him!"

"Idiot! Stay focused, yeah? Un."

Suddenly, Sakura could barely make out the sound of two heavy footsteps from outside her cell. The footsteps grew louder and louder and, suddenly, everything grew quiet. Just then, the door to Sakura's cell clanked opened and two men stepped in. One wore an odd uniform, with red clouds on it, and had an orange spiraling mask. The other man beside him appeared to be only a few years older than Sakura. He had rather feminine features, the most noticeable one being his long blond hair which was brought into a ponytail. He wore the same uniform as his companion and had a camera for a left eye. There was a brief silence as the blond-haired man focused on Sakura with his camera eye. Then the man in the orange mask broke the silence by saying, "Hey, Deidara-Senpai, who's the cutie in the chains?"

Sakura felt her face get hot, no doubt turning red. Deidara smacked the speaker over the head, hard. "Hey!" yelped the masked man, "Don't hurt Tobi! He is a good boy."

"Then be a good boy and shuddup!" Deidara then turned to Sakura. "I'm sorry", said he with a smirk, "It seems we made an error. Let's go, Tobi."

"Awww! But Tobi wanted to talk to the pink-haired cutie!" Sakura began to blush even more.

"Tobi," Deidara said with a serious look on his face, "Do not forget our mission, un?"

Tobi ignored him and turned to Sakura. "Tobi wanna know your name," he said.

"S-Sakura," she stuttered, "Where are we?"

"Orochimaru's lair," Tobi replied casually.

Sakura's mind was reeling. _I don't understand. Why am I in Orochimaru's lair?_ _What's going on? _

"Tobi we're going, hmmm?" Deidara said.

Finally, bits of Sakura's came back. Deidara was part of the Akatsuki. _Why is he here?_ _Why am _I_ here? _

Tobi replied, "Can't Tobi talk with cutie a little longer?"

Deidara responded by saying, "Come on Tobi, she's not even that pretty." In the instant before Deidara turned away, Sakura saw him blush.

"Clearly you don't mean that," Tobi said, slyly.

"Shut up! Un?" Deidara responded, blushing even more, mixing with rising anger. Tobi giggled.

Sakura asked, "Why would you two be in Orochimaru's lair?"

Deidara smirked and said, "To kill Orochimaru, of course!" Then his smirk widened into a smile and he said, "While we're here we might as well kill the Uchiha brat."

Sakura's eyes widened. _They're here to kill Sasuke-Kun!_ She thought franticly. _What should I do? What _can_ I do?_

Deidara turned to leave and said, "C'mon Tobi, lets git `er done, hmmm? Let's kill the Uchiha and Orochimaru…nice and slow."

"W-wait!" Sakura yelled before Deidara had the chance to leave.

"What do you want now, un?" Deidara asked impatiently. "Tobi and I are on a tight schedule. We don't have time to waste with you."

"You can't kill Sasuke!" Sakura yelled sounding braver than she felt.  
Deidara smirked again at Sakura.

"And if I do?"

"I'll, I'll…" Sakura was not quite sure what she should say at this point. She glared at Deidara and said, "If you defile Sasuke with your touch, I'll kill you the same way I killed your puppet-maker friend!"

Deidara's real eye widened at this statement. Then there was a long silence. Deidara broke the silence by bursting into laughter. "You sure are a feisty one, un?" Deidara said between his laughter. He began to walk across the cell room towards Sakura with a weird grin on his face. Sakura began blushing, for Deidara was getting a _little_ too close. Deidara gazed over Sakura's body. He smiled and walked even closer to Sakura. Sakura's face turned red as she asked, "Could you back up a little?"

"What if I don't _want_ to, hmmm?" Deidara added, "You're even cuter up close."

_Is this guy _hitting_ on me!?_ Sakura's ninja training taught her to expect _anything_, to react to _anything_, but she was not prepared for this!

"Are you gonna ask her out?" Tobi asked in an excited tone. "Cause you two would make a great couple!"

Sakura and Deidara turned crimson, and in unison they said, "Shut up, Tobi!" (except Deidara added "un" at the end of his sentence).

Deidara turned around and gave Sakura an evil smirk. Sakura's cheeks were burning. She hated him looking at her that way.

"Have you ever kissed a boy?" Tobi asked out of random.

"Um, n-no", Sakura answered in an awkward tone.

"Well Deidara can fix that for you now," Tobi said with a girlish giggle.

Deidara who was at this point blushing as much as Sakura once again whacked Tobi over the head. "I don't like her. I just think she's pretty".

Sakura shuddered. Why was Deidara saying these things about her it? It creeped her out. But much to Sakura's and Tobi's surprise Deidara pulled out a kunai knife, moonlight reflecting on the sharp blade. He grinned in a sinister way, saying, "But all beauty dies out, eventually."

**With Naruto**

"Dang it!" Naruto hollered. "We've been searching all day and we haven't found a single trace of Sakura!" Naruto and the rest of the Sasuke-retrieval team were setting up camp in the forest on the outskirts of the Hidden Grass Village.

"D-don't worry Naruto-Kun," Hinata tried to reassure him. "I'm sure we'll find Sakura soon enough." Then, much to everyone's surprise, Naruto shot Hinata an enraged glare.

"Shut up, Hinata!" Naruto yelled. "It's your fault that Sakura got kidnapped in the first place! When Kabuto came and grabbed her he just ran right past you! You didn't do a thing to stop him! This whole thing is your fault! Neji sure was right when he called you a failure!"

"N-Naruto-Kun!" Hinata gasped, sounding as though she was going to cry. "I'm s-sorry."

"Yeah," Naruto snarled. "You should be!" That did it. Hinata burst into tears and Naruto didn't care.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as Shino went over to console Hinata.

"You didn't need to be so cruel," Shino said as he passed Naruto. Naruto just growled and began to walk away.

"Where are you going Naruto?" Shikamaru called after him, but Naruto didn't even bother answering. He just kept walking. Once he was deep within the forest, away from his teammates Naruto uttered a cuss word under his breath. He hadn't meant to be so angry with Hinata but he just felt so _frustrated! _He had already lost Sasuke to Orochimaru so he couldn't let him take Sakura away to. As he thought this over, Naruto suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Naruto's body tensed and he reached for his kunai knife.

"Whose there?" Naruto called out. Then, out of the bushes, stepped Naruto's worst enemy: the man who had tortured Sasuke for so many years and the man who pursued Naruto for the demon inside of him. "Itachi!" Naruto exclaimed, hatefully. The man peered down at Naruto with his red eyes.

"It's good to see you again… Naruto."

**Kabuto's P.O.V.**

"Oh, Ssssasuke", Kabuto heard Orochimaru say in his sleep. "Your body is so big and strong. I really, really want it. Come here, Sasuke, heh, heh, heh." Kabuto shoved his earplugs in harder, making his ears slightly bleed.

_Why is that Michael Jackson wannabe so interested in Sasuke? I mean I am sooo much better looking and Sasuke's curse mark makes him look even uglier than Sakura's mom._

"Wait, how would I know what Sakura's mom looks like? Weirdo!"

_I am not a Weirdo!_

"Whatever you say, stalker"

_I am not a stalker!_

" Are too!"

_Are not!_

"Are too!"

_Are not_!

"Shut up!" Orochimaru said bolting out of bed. "KABUTO, can't a guy dream about Sasuke in peace?"

"I'm sorry Lord Jackson, uh, I mean Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto silently left the room as he heard Orochimaru say, "Oh, Sasuke, your face will be so much more beautiful when it's mine."

Kabuto felt like vomiting.

_Maybe you should check on Sakura, Stalker._

"I AM NOT A STALKER!"

"KABUTO! SHUT! UP!" Orochimaru hollered.

**With Deidara**

Deidara smiled as he saw the terrified look on Sakura's face.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"Are you deaf, un?" Deidara asked. "I said that I want to kill you! Do you think I've forgotten who you are? You're that pink-haired brat that killed Master Sasori! It's only fair that I get to settle the score." Deidara slowly advanced toward Sakura with a murderous look in his eye. As soon as he was close enough he raised his knife. "This is for Sasori…"

(**_To be continued….)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. Yes, I know that it's been a while since I last posted anything for this story, but you know... school makes things kind of difficult for me. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I've decided to write a newer, better version of this story because I wasn't pleased with the first. Sorry for keeping you waiting that long just to tell you that I've started over. Oh, and I know that there are some grammar errors so please ignore those; I'll fix them later. So, if you haven't reviewed this chapter all ready, then please R&R. That would really make my day. ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 2: To Love a Forehead**

**(Deidara's flashback. Age seven.)**

_Deidara had never fancied seeing the blood of his enemies. He wasn't afraid of it or anything like that, he just found blood to be grotesque. Deidara had a philosophy. That was, if a human were to die in battle, they may as well die beautifully, even if they weren't his allies. It was as simple as that. That was why Deidara used his explosive art, a unique ability that he inherited from his family, to kill those who sought him out. There was no blood, no gore, just a simple explosion and the battle was over. That was that. Deidara had a made a vow to himself that he would never use his art for mindless slaughter. Unfortunately, that was a promise that couldn't be kept._

_One day, within the large forest on the border of Iwagakure, Deidara walked alone through the vast maze of trees in order to find something to eat. Ever since the death of his parents, Deidara had been forced to run away from his home. He had too many unpleasant encounters back there. _

_Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Deidara. He was a tall, husky man with massive arms and a battle-scarred face. On his forehead was his ninja headband with the cloud village symbol in the center. Another assassin. Deidara tried to keep walking ahead, but the man stood in the way of his path._

_"Please move aside," Deidara said as politely as he could as he tried to avoid eye-contact with the tall man. He didn't want to say or do anything that might provoke him. To Deidara's dismay, the man didn't budge._

_"Please move aside," Deidara repeated. A toothy grin crossed the man's roughened face._

_"I ain't movin' aside, brat," the man said. "I know who you are. You're that freak of a boy from the terrorist clan that everyone is talkin' about." _

_Deidara winced at the mention of his family. He was a member of a fearsome bomber clan from Iwagakure. They had the special ability to turn beautiful works of art into explosives. Instead of creating masterpieces for the beauty of it, they used their sculptors to bring chaos and destruction. Deidara was repulsed by his clan's barbaric methods. He never wanted to be a terrorist. He wanted to be an artist. _

_Ever since the death of his parents, Deidara was sought out by assassins from all over the five great nations. They feared that if they allowed Deidara to grow up, he would terrorize the people of their country, like his ancestors did._

_"Sorry brat, but you're gonna have to die," the man said, pulling a knife out of his tool bag. "There's a huge bounty on that little, blond head of yours. Soon enough, that money's gonna be mine."  
"I'll say this one more time," Deidara said threateningly. "Move out of my way, or I'll be forced to kill you." The ninja roared with laughter after hearing Deidara's simple threat._

_"You got a big mouth brat," he yelled between his laughter. "You really think you can kill me? I've been a ninja for more than twenty years! I'm a chunin from the hidden cloud village! You're cracked if you think you can kill me!"  
"People like you annoy me," Deidara said. "You make idle threats and don't have the strength to back it up. I suppose I'll have no choice but to kill you."_

_"That's it!" the man hollered. "You're dead you little freak!"  
The man stepped forward to kill Deidara. That would be the last step he would ever make._

_Deidara had no intention of prolonging the man's suffering. He swiftly reached into his bag and hurled a clay spider onto the man's face. Deidara formed a hand-sign and that ended that. The clay spider exploded and took the man with it._

_"So much for a chunin," Deidara muttered under his breath. Deidara then began to continue to search for food as though nothing had happened. He was used to this sort of thing by now. _

_Just then, Deidara heard a much friendlier voice calling his name._

_"Deidara-Kun!" a female voice yelled from a distance. "I've picked out some berries for the two of us to eat!"  
Deidara smiled to himself as he heard the sweet-sounding voice._

_"I'm coming Suzumebachi-Chan!" Deidara called back as he ran towards the direction of the voice._

_Suzumebachi was Deidara's best friend. They had been best friends ever since they met back in the ninja academy. She was a young girl who was only about a year younger than Deidara. The two of them had very much in common. They both came from powerful Iwagakure clans and they both had a passion for art. The only major difference between the two of them was that Deidara could make his art come to life. They were inseparable as though they were brother and sister. _

_Deidara found Suzumebachi to be a beautiful work of art, and he didn't even think he was supposed to like girls yet! There was just something unique about her body and personality that Deidara found attractive. The most noticeable trait of Suzumebachi's was her enormous forehead. The thing was huge! Some kids made fun of her for it back in Iwagakure, but Deidara thought that it only made her more different but in a good way._

_Deidara loved Suzumebachi as though she were his sister and vowed to protect her, always. However, that too, was a promise that couldn't be kept._

**(End flashback)**

Only one thought occurred to Sakura's dazed mind as Deidara Advanced toward her with thought of killing her engrained in his twisted mind. _This can't possibly be happening! _She hoped desperately that this was all just a nightmare. She hoped that she wasn't a captive in Orochimaru's lair and that she wasn't about to be killed by sadistic lunatic, but no matter how much she wanted this to be a bad dream, she knew that it wasn't the case. If she didn't find some way to fight back, she would be killed for sure. Cold sweat began to drip from Sakura's face and she felt like hyperventilating. She couldn't die like this! If she did, she would never be able to see her precious Sasuke-Kun again.

"You needn't be so distressed, my dear," Deidara cackled darkly, lowering his knife for a brief moment. "I'll be sure to kill you before you feel anything at all, un." Deidara examined Sakura's chained-up body with an interested look in his actual eye. It was as though he were looking for something.

"It's almost a shame that I have to kill you like this," Deidara said, with a distant look in his eye. "It's not very often that I've met women as beautiful as yourself. Regardless, I cannot let Sasori's death go un-avenged, hmmm?" Deidara's psychotic grin returned to his face and he raised his knife yet again. "Farewell, Sakura." Sakura felt the urge to scream in terror, but knew that would do no good. There was no one in this base who would respond to her scream.

_Is this really how I'm going to die? _Sakura thought hopelessly.

"Watch me now, Sasori," Deidara said. "Watch as I avenge you and your art, un." Deidara prepared to deliver the finishing blow when…

"Tobi, get off of me, un!" Deidara yelled. Tobi's incredible speed had stunned both Deidara and Sakura. The instant before Deidara could kill Sakura with his knife, Tobi appeared beside Deidara before Sakura could even blink and grabbed his hand which held the kunai. "Tobi, what do you think you're doing, hmmm?"

"You can't be serious, Deidara-Senpai," Tobi yelled, sounding much more serious than he had before. "This girl can't even fight back! I understand that she killed Sasori and you're upset but that's no reason to kill someone in this condition! Are you honestly beneath killing a chained-up girl?"

"If it means that I'll be able to avenge Sasori," Deidara said, jerking his arm away from Tobi, "then yes. Sasori and I weren't exactly friends, yet we were comrades all the same. That's why I swore over Sasori's corpse that I will put an end to the one responsible for killing him. I must do this Tobi, un." Tobi was silent for a moment and then nodded.

"Fine," he said. "Do what you think is right."

Deidara returned his attention to Sakura. "I'm sorry about that, un," he said. "Now then, where were we?" Deidara raised his knife once more. "Usually, I use my art to dispose of vermin like you, but I want you to die the same way as Sasori. _With a knife pierced into your heart, un."_

Sakura tried desperately to gather her chakra so she could break free from the chains and hit Deidara's pretty little face but, for some reason, she couldn't. Orochimaru must have put some sort of chakra restraint on her while she was unconscious.

"Do you have any last requests, hmmm?" Deidara said, clearly trying to toy with Sakura before he had the satisfaction of ending her life. Sakura could hardly speak. Her body was completely paralyzed with fear and tears began to form in her jade eyes. She knew that it couldn't be helped. She was going to die at the hands of the crazed terrorist.

"I do have one last request," Sakura whimpered helplessly. "I don't care what you do to me but please…" Sakura paused, trying to hold back her tears. "Please don't kill Sasuke-Kun! I'm begging you!" A small tear fell from Sakura's colorless face.

Deidara grinned wickedly.  
"Do you really think that I want to carry out your last request, hmmm?" Deidara asked with a crazed look in his eye. "Yeah right, un. There's no way I'm willing to let that Uchiha brat live. In fact, only because you care about him so much, I'll play around with him before he dies." Deidara leaned in an inch away from Sakura's horrified face. "I'm going to enjoy stabbing Sasuke until he stops breathing, un. And you get to die knowing that it was all your fault that Sasuke had to suffer, un."

Sakura could hardly believe what she had just heard. A whole new wave of depression ran through Sakura. _Because of me, Sasuke-Kun is going to suffer a slow and painful death, _Sakura thought sadly. _I allowed myself to be captured by the enemy and now Naruto and the rest of the team are probably going to risk their lives in order to save me, and by then it'll be too late. I'm nothing but a burden to them. Sakura Haruno, you are now, have been and forever will be dead weight. Maybe it would be better for the village if I were to disappear. _"Just kill me," Sakura said with streams of tears falling from her eyes. "Kill me and make it quick! I'm no good to my friends anymore." Sakura shut her eyes, tight.

"Sounds good to me, un," Deidara said. For the last time, he raised his kunai knife, while Sakura said a silent goodbye to her friends and family. Deidara checked over his shoulder to make sure Tobi wouldn't interfere like he did last time. Tobi was busy sitting in the prison cell's corner singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to himself. Deidara turned back to Sakura and admired her beauty one last time. This time without Tobi to stop him, Deidara prepared to murder Sakura, yet for some reason… he couldn't move.

"Tobi, I told you not to get in my way!" Deidara yelled, still unable to move his arm.

"What are you talking about Senpai?" Tobi asked from his corner, once again, speaking like a child. "Tobi was just over here playing tic-tac-toe with himself."

Deidara looked at the hand he held his knife with. He shook it twice to make sure nothing was wrong with it.

"If you're going to kill me then just get it over with!" Sakura cried with uneven breaths.

"R-right, un," Deidara said while wondering what was wrong with his arm. Deidara tried, once more, to kill Sakura but the same thing happened. For some reason Deidara couldn't bring himself to kill the pink-haired brat who was chained up in front of him.

_What's wrong with me? _Deidara thought. He wanted, so badly to kill Sakura, but for some strange reason he _couldn't_! It was as though something in Deidara's mind wanted Sakura to stay alive. There was just something _familiar _about Sakura that Deidara couldn't place his finger on. Then, for reasons unknown to Deidara, the words that Tobi had spoke only a few minutes ago echoed in Deidara's mind.

_"You haven't kissed a boy? Well, Deidara-Senpai can fix that for you."  
"Are you really beneath killing a chained-up girl?"  
"Are you going to ask her out? 'Cause you two would make a great couple!"  
_Deidara shook that last thought from his mind. There was no _possible _way that Deidara even felt a _hint _of affection for Sakura.

_I have to do this! _Deidara reminded himself. _I have to kill her! She's an enemy! She killed Sasori! I have to kill her, I HAVE TO KILL HER!" _

And yet, he couldn't. Sakura seemed to be so _hopeless _and so _fragile _and so inexplicably _familiar! _Her body, her face and her… forehead, Deidara had seen them somewhere before. Deidara knew only one thing then: he couldn't kill Sakura. No matter how much he despised her and no matter how much he wanted to see her dead, he just couldn't do it.

Deidara dropped his knife.

Sakura was completely still, awaiting death's cold embrace. She had no idea what had happened. Was she still alive or was she already dead? She didn't think she was dead because she could still feel the tears on her cheeks. Could you still feel things when you're dead? Suddenly, Sakura felt something warm touch her cheek. Slowly Sakura opened her eyes and what she saw surprised her. Deidara had wiped a tear away from her face.

"You look pathetic, un," Deidara stated bluntly. "You call yourself a ninja? Do all chunin your age cry whenever they face death, hmmm? Konoha must've lowered its standards by a lot, un."

"Wh-what happened?" Sakura stuttered. "I thought you were going to kill me."

"I was, un," Deidara said, "but then I realized that killing a pathetic little baby like you wouldn't be worth getting blood on my knife, un."

"What he means is that he likes you too much to kill you," Tobi said from his corner. Deidara shot a death-glare in Tobi's direction.

"And, just because I'm feeling generous, I'll spare that Uchiha kid as well, un," Deidara announced. Sakura's eyes widened and more tears began to fall.

"Thank you!" Sakura sobbed. "Thank you so much!"  
"Yeah, yeah," Deidara muttered. "Anyway, we'd better get moving, Tobi. We've wasted enough time here."  
"Alrighty then, Senpai," Tobi enthusiastically responded and hopped to his feet. "Let's get moving!"

Deidara turned to leave, but then stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hold on for a moment, Tobi," Deidara said, turning back to Sakura. "There is still something I should do before we leave." Deidara, once again advanced toward Sakura with a crooked grin on his face. What he did next surprised both Sakura and Tobi.

"Um… Senpai? What are you doing?"  
_**(To be continued…) **_

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**A/N: So that's all for now. In the next chapter we will see what becomes of poor Sakura and we will visit our old pal, Sasuke Uchiha. So... um... PLEEEEEEAAASE REVIEW! XD Thanks for reading! Till next chapter.**

**~Rafiki-Kun**


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